Temptations toward lying, stealing, rape, murder, homosexuality,
pedophilia, etc., do not make you a liar, a thief, a rapist, a murderer, a homosexual, or a pedophile. These sorts of
temptations come upon everyone to varying degrees; although every person
is not going to experience the same temptations or even experience them
to the same degree as others. Temptations press upon us every day. If I
shared with you all the temptations I have had growing up, you would
avoid me like the plague. But before you look down your nose at me and
try to judge me based on information you do not know, understand that
the same is also true for you—and you know it. If we were to broadcast
every thought that has ever entered into your mind, you would go into
hiding for the rest of your life.
I will give you one example: When I
was an adolescent, while cutting up some vegetable or other, the
strangest temptation entered my mind and told me to cut my wrists. My
immediate thought was, Why would I want to hurt myself in this way? I dismissed the temptation and carried on with what I was doing. Why would such a temptation enter my mind? I
have never had the desire to hurt myself, nor do I have such a desire
now; and that temptation has never returned.
Many people are tempted with homosexual thoughts at varying times
in life, but having such temptations—even strong temptations—does not
make you homosexual nor does it mean you were born that way. To give in to those
temptations and act upon them makes you homosexual, just as giving in
to and acting upon the temptations to lie make you a liar and giving in to and acting upon the temptations to murder make you a murderer. Those who profess to be homosexual and/or bi-sexual, because of having these temptations—perhaps strongly and/or frequently—falsely conclude, Well, I have these desires, so therefore I must be gay/bi-sexual.
If you have the temptation or the urge to have sex with an animal, and
if that temptation or urge occurs frequently and/or strongly, it does not mean you were born with an orientation toward bestiality, nor does it mean you ought to go ahead and have sex with animals.
Temptations, no matter how frequent or how strong, do not
determine what is true, right, moral, or natural. A child may have
temptations to kill animals, and as he/she grows older those temptations
may increase toward the point of killing a person. Yes, you were born in
sin, but no, you were not born a murderer, let alone a homosexual. You
became that when you committed the act, and you can become part of the "such were some of you" (1 Cor. 6:11) if you renounce and forsake that behaviour and repent and trust in the Lord. Temptations
are not sin. When you entertain those temptations in your
mind, or you act out upon those temptations physically, then you are guilty of sin because the intention of your heart is
made known.
Do not equate temptations, urges, or desires with who you supposedly are!
Let's be honest... If you were raised in an isolated environment with other boys and girls, without receiving any knowledge one way or the other in regard to heterosexuality or homosexuality, the very first time in your life that you see a gay couple holding hands or kissing, something inside you would cringe and innately inform you that what you were seeing is unnatural and wrong; simply because it has been intrinsically imprinted upon your heart by the Maker. Conscience, logic, and common sense inform us that it is unnatural and wrong.